Coaching Cockpits and Data

Attached to the blog discussion is a great PDF by Don Babbitt, a throws coach down in Georgia. What I like about this information is it shares what is important to him and how he tracks that information over a career. What information is important to you at any time? What information is urgent and what is something to reflect on later? For me I think next year will be 150m time, 30m time, Vertical Jump, and a few horizontal tests. Obviously the event performances are important. So what about screens? What about recovery? Over the last 3 months I have received 20 excel spreadsheets and found information was usually times and reps, but not much on the athlete’s feeling or current state of rest. Perhaps I should use a dashboard model like business? I may find that HRV (heart rate variability) is my engine light but my ears and eyes will notice a strange sound or something not looking right. Still data is important and it often tells a story. Here is what is important to me.

Mood- What is their interest in training? Apathetic or excited?

Soreness- Soreness 1-10 and where?

Limber- Do they feel compacted joint wise or tight in their body (soft tissue).

Energy Levels- 1-10 exhausted to rocket fueled

Bounce- Does the athlete feel flat or stale (this is often reflected in mood).

Certain scores that are poor can lead into lifestyle or sports medicine questioning but I think I am going towards a more consistent line of questioning. I don’t know but I think data collection can’t be mining for gold but more of a surface scan of what is going on.

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